What's wrong with IE as a browser?

I keep hearing folks say that IE is a terrible browser, to use anythng but IE, etc. I was just wondering why that is? I myself tried Avant, and liked it okay, but since I re=installed Windows, I'm back to IE, and it works fine. I also like Outlook Express.

I would just like to get some opinions and input from everyone as to why IE is so awful. Some direct comparisons would be awesome.

Thanks for helping me in my neverending quest for geek knowledge!!

Eric

 

Horrid support of w3c standards, more security flaws than swiss cheese has holes, has some ugly rendering bugs too, especially with .png files using transparency.

 

It is also the most commonly used browser out there, which makes it the most attractive target to scumbags who want to install crapware on your computer. That only serves to amplify it's shortcomings.

 

What is w3c standards, and .png files using transparency?

 

w3c is the world wide web consortium. They are the standards body for the web standards we have today. MS like to be the one to make standards for everything, but they can't with the web. w3c says formatting languages have to be written a certain way and browsers have to be able to interpret this correctly. IE does things that are not compliant for the most part.

PNG is an image format like GIF and JPG are image formats. Like GIF's, you can have a transparent background in the image.

 

Security issues and spyware.
IE is so vulnerable to spyware that it has become a huge problem. Running programs like Adaware and Spybot has become almost mandatory in order to cope with them.

 

So if I use Avant, doesn't that just run on top of IE anyway? Or am I missing something?

 

avant, myie2 are both IE overlays. New GUI, Same IE.

 

So if anything, avant would actually add to the bloat...right?

 

well, not directly to IE's bloat.. IE has to load in memory and then Avant sits on top of that. Avant has it's own bloat but you get all the extras that IE doesn't give you.

 

Try mozilla firefox. It seems to be faster than IE.

 

AND...no spyware!!!

Since going to Firefox a few months ago - I no longer have to go thru a weekly ritutal of finding and deleting spyware.

 

I never had to do that when I was using IE exclusivley

 

and with spywareblaster, there's no need to even bother

 

Yeah, the idea is to use a browser that is standards-compliant, and is NOT an IE overlay. Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera, and lots of other less well-known ones fit that description.

But you'll STILL have to use IE to get Windows Updates, and to view some MS sites that won't load in any other browser.

IE is backward, outdated technology, not compliant with current Web standards for browsers, can't be customized in any interesting way, comes with its own built-in tracker file -- index.dat -- that MS can read at will (so savvy users destroy that file periodically and make IE create a new, empty one that tells nobody nothin'),and is full of security holes. Isn't that list enough of an explanation for why you should consider using another browser?

 

Same here.. dunno how everyone else gets it.. oh wait. I have an idea

 

Indeed.

Do you guys have splash guards on your keyboard?

 

I have big monitor so I can stand far away

 

Well, you definately make a good case! I will probably try Firefox, since everyone toots it's horn so much. I tried Mozilla a while back and it seemed slow and buggy. Maybe I had it cnfigured wrong?

You say I would have to have IE for Windows Updates...why is that? And so I couldn't un-install IE then? Plus, I like Outlook Express, even though everyone hates it. It's easy to use and very fast.

 

mozilla firefox isn't the same as mozilla.
The reason why you need IE for windows update is because the site uses an ActiveX control. Firefox doesn't natively support ActiveX.

 

Wellsir, if MANAGE to uninstall it, and your operating system still OPERATES, come on back and tell us how you did it, cuz Microsoft will pay us a fortune not to reveal the secret you've discovered.

Kidding.

You can't uninstall IE. It's an integral part of the OS. Microsoft has been in court for years fighting lawsuits about that very fact.

You see, almost the whole world uses Windows, and almost everybody who uses Windows knows zilch about computers, so they never ADD anything to the machine they buy, and they never CHANGE anything about the machine they buy, and so ... almost everybody in the world uses Internet Explorer, just because it's THERE. But in the eyes of the law, putting it THERE and making it impossible to get RID of it constitutes unfair competition, yada, yada, yada.

End of lecture. Amen.